Patrick Corbin confounds Rockies on three-hit gem for D-backs

DENVER -- Patrick Corbin was a maestro on the mound, making his slider move all over the place.

And after the Arizona Diamondbacks lefty finished off his virtuoso performance, he calmly sauntered over to congratulate his catcher, casually shook his hand and coolly walked off the field.

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There were no big displays of emotion to celebrate Corbin's first complete game. This is simply what he expects and, lately, what Arizona expects out of him.

Corbin tossed a three-hitter and struck out a career-high 10 to lift the Diamondbacks to a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

"That's what you're trying to do every time you go out there," Corbin said.

Starts like this have pretty much been the standard for Corbin. He entered the game with a 1.52 ERA and actually lowered it to 1.44 with this gem.

Corbin (7-0) also joined Randy Johnson as the only lefties in team history to begin the season 7-0. He also turned in his club-record ninth straight start in which he has pitched at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer.

To think, warming up, Corbin thought he might be in for a long night, too. He was struggling in the pregame session with Montero, and couldn't seem to locate his pitches.

In the first inning, Corbin walked leadoff batter Eric Young Jr. But then Dexter Fowler lined into a double play, and from there Corbin was in complete command.

"In the first inning, if they would've hopped on me there ," Corbin said, shaking his head.

But they didn't.

Mixing an effective slider with a sneaky fastball, Corbin kept the Rockies hitters guessing all night.

He held Colorado hitless until Troy Tulowitzki's single up the middle in the fourth and didn't allow another hit until Nolan Arenado's double in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Jordan Pacheco broke up Corbin's shutout bid with a double that brought home Arenado.

"He just pitched an unbelievable game. I don't know what else to say," Arenado said. "Obviously, we needed to play better, but he pitched a really good game."

About the only drama left in the ninth was whether Corbin would finish it. The bullpen doors briefly opened in the outfield, but that was just a ruse as Corbin trotted out of the dugout. He warmed up his arm by waving it in circles, then retired the side.

Just like on the mound, Corbin was composed after finishing off the win, shaking hands with Montero.

"I didn't want to show too much emotion, I guess," Corbin explained. "It's great. Miggy did a great job again behind the plate."

While Corbin shined, Jon Garland (3-5) struggled. He went six innings, allowing five runs and a season-high 11 hits.

"Put your team down like that, it's terrible," Garland said. "I've done it my last four or five starts. I'm trying to figure it out."

Didi Gregorius had a big night, driving in runs with a double in the fourth and a single in the sixth. A.J. Pollock produced at the bottom of the lineup as he finished with three singles and scored two runs to help the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.

Paul Goldschmidt and Eric Chavez had RBI singles in the third, staking Arizona to a 3-0 lead. That was more than enough for Corbin, who has allowed a total of two runs over his past three starts.

Corbin is a completely different pitcher this season, one who's trusting his slider more and throwing a lot more strikes. Of his 97 pitches on Monday, 74 were for strikes.

His previous high for strikeouts was eight against Cincinnati in August. He surpassed that total when he struck out Carlos Gonzalez in the seventh.

Chavez tripled in the second and scored when the Rockies couldn't turn an inning-ending double play on Montero's grounder.

The 35-year-old Chavez is off to a torrid start, in part because Gibson refuses to overuse the infielder, given his history of back issues. Rarely will Gibson use Chavez more than two games in a row.

"You'll find if I do it [play him more] he will wear down a little bit and probably have medical problems," Gibson said. "We can't afford that."

NOTES: Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer expects to be in the lineup Friday in San Francisco when he's eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list. He's feeling better after receiving an epidural last week to relieve pain and stiffness in his neck. Cuddyer is on the DL with an inflamed cervical disk. He's headed to Arizona for two games of extended spring training, just to squeeze in some plate appearances. "Doing good, doing good," Cuddyer said in the clubhouse Monday. Johnson started 7-0 in 2000. The Diamondbacks will throw RHP Ian Kennedy (2-3) on Tuesday night, while the Rockies counter with RHP Jhoulys Chacin.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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Research Notes

Patrick Corbin is the second pitcher in the last 20 seasons to open a season with nine straight starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer in six innings or more. The other is Ubaldo Jimenez, who opened 2010 with a dozen straight such starts for the Rockies.

** Corbin repeatedly tantalized Rockies hitters with his breaking ball. He threw 34 of them and the Rockies went after 21, missing on 15 of them (almost all of which were thrown down-and-in to righties or down-and-away from lefties).

** This breaking ball is Corbin's signature pitch. Opponents have taken 94 swings at it and missed 54 times. His 58 percent miss rate is easily the highest in the majors.

** Corbin's 39 strikeouts with his breaking pitches are the third-most of any pitcher in the NL this season, trailing only A.J. Burnett's 44 and Clayton Kershaw's 42.